Latent Desires
by Ultraviolet Phenomenon
Summary: V thought Evey’s survival depended on his ability to remain absent from her life, but when his duty to assure her well being lands him back in her world, he begins to wonder whether he was meant to remain by the side of the woman he fell in love with.
1. Hello and Tears

He made his way through familiar alleyways, darkness aiding his need for ultimate invisibility tonight. He couldn't chance being seen, especially not by her, but he needed to do this, he had a date to keep, unfinished business waiting for him back in the old unused train station, where he'd made his last stand nearly a year earlier. Men were waiting to die and who was he to disappoint them? If they wanted him dead so badly they could risk the consequences. They were looking for Evey, not that she couldn't be found in the Brixton Manor above ground, but there she was constantly surrounded by people, people determined to help her reshape the country into something better. The Shadow Gallery, or the X-lair of Codename: V as it had been rumored, was where she disappeared to when some pressing political event wasn't stealing her time, and hence his avoidance of the premises. He was no longer welcome in his home, it was hers as he had promised, to do with what she will. He no longer belonged there, no more than he belonged with her.

The entrance to the tunnels took him past the Shadow Gallery, and he really didn't need that temptation tonight, but he had things that had to be taken care of, things that would ensure Evey's safety without him. Without him, he reminded himself, she was safe. As much as he hated himself, he'd had to press forth as he had done all those nights when he'd lain awake in an empty cell beside her, listening to her cries, hearing her relentless sobs throughout the night. This wasn't a game or a lie this time, one that could not be taken back, his death was final, the end, no matter how much he wished it wasn't. His only purpose in life was to ensure her happiness, her safety, her survival.

Noises in the dark made his hands instinctively slide to the hilt of a knife, as a stray cat darted from a pile of garbage left littered among the ruins of the alley. He sighed, easing his grip, before straightening his stance. Nothing seemed to hold the effort it once did. Sometimes he wondered if he should have stayed on that train, letting Evey send him off into history. He stopped at the mouth of the tunnel, bowing his head solemnly, this was his decision he reminded himself, the path he had chosen for them both, but the longing to see her, if only once more compelled him forward. He stopped again as soon as he had begun moving, shaking his head violently. Once more, and then what? Once more after that, and another after that. He'd tried his best to stay away, evade her unavoidable presence but he'd been there. In the midst of the crowds at every public appearance she'd made, clinging to every word she spoke, every tear and smile and laugh. Her voice resonating throughout him. He'd watched her tell their story, through her eyes in her own words, one night on a talk show, interviewed by an overly attentive host who couldn't keep from pawing her at every chance he was allowed.

V frowned, dwelling on her was very bad for his sanity he reminded himself, continuing forward past the columns until a small figure stepped out in front of him from the shadows it seemed, and before he could move there was a scream of rage as something small hit him hard square in his chest. The force knocked him backwards for the first time in years, not leaving him enough time to prepare for the solid mass suddenly behind his legs that swept them out from beneath him as he began to fall. He landed with a loud crack onto his back, legs still held in the air by what he noticed to be a concrete block, blinking upward at the sky and onslaught of showers where the roof had caved, too startled to move. What the hell just happened?

"Bastard!" He closed his eyes, squeezed them tightly shut when he heard her voice full of angry tears lashing out at him before there was a harsh kick into his abdomen causing him to roll away from her and onto his feet and that's when he saw her.

She was soaked in rain, and her hair had grown, leaving wet curls dangling just above her narrow shoulders. He frowned suddenly behind the mask, she was smaller than he remembered, skinnier or rather seemingly more fragile. Her lips were pursed into thin angry lines, her eyes wide and tear-filled, slow drops falling to the collar of the tan trench coat she had always been so fond of wearing. He noticed the hem of black that hinted to the dress she was wearing. Her legs were long and graceful in the heels, but she was so pale, almost sickly looking compared to the effervescence she had once showed.

"Evey." He sighed suddenly with both relief and reluctance in his voice but she regarded him with more hate and venom than when he'd revealed the truth of her imprisonment to her in the Shadow Gallery.

"Shut up!" She screamed coming forward to push him again, and he let her, this time into one of the columns. "You God damn bastard!" She railed swinging blind punches at his shoulders and sides, knowing full well where the plate of armor beneath his clothes ended and he began. He reached out with lightning quick movements to take her wrists in his grasp, forcing them behind her back with one hand.

"Calm down." He hushed softly as she struggled.

"Let me go!" She screamed trying to shake him off, but she knew she couldn't.

"Not until you calm down." He murmured releasing a finger so that it could glide across her knuckles slowly as his free hand raised to caress a cheek tenderly and after a long moment her incessant squirming ceased and she collapsed her forehead against his chest.

"I hate you." She spat harshly, her words however too soft to have been heartfelt. "I hate you so much." She repeated and he sighed painfully.

"Evey…" He breathed pleadingly as he let her slide finally from him, her eyes raw and red when they raised to meet his, her hands raising to the mask. He watched cautiously waiting for the moment when in her rage she would rip away the mask and reveal the horrors that lay beneath it, but it never came. Instead her eyes searched the depths tilting the mask until the filter of moonlight from the opening of the tunnel could reveal his eyes, watching her closely. The hand that had been holding her wrist rose to cover hers, while the other continued it's attention of her cheek as she stared in avid fascination. "Evey." He breathed feeling the press of her against him, until suddenly she went limp against him. For a moment he thought she had fainted but she was trembling, allowing him to wrap his arms around her tightly.

"V?" She mumbled against his chest before her head raised slowly, her eyes full of tears, he watched her carefully, then a sharp pain was in his side, her nails had dug in suddenly once her fingers had found their way beneath the armor, before she jerked fully away from him. "Why?" Tears blinded her as the rain drenched her sobs, her skin dampened by the onslaught of showers, fists full of rain at her sides. "Why did you do this to me?" She held out her palms helplessly, shaking with anger and cold, her curls now damp tendrils framing her pained features. He took a breath, he'd known that this day would come, dreaded it since the moment he turned away from her offer with the simplistic words 'I can't'. This would be harder than any fight before, to stay strong in her presence as she crumbled before him. He'd fought against the urge to find her, see her, touch her, since the second he'd leapt off of that train. He'd known better than to return to the Shadow Gallery, he knew she'd be there, clinging to a memory he needed to make her forget.

"Evey," V began forcing exasperation in his voice, a carefulness as he spoke slowly, one gloved hand held up to halt her when she stepped towards him. "I hadn't planned on doing anything to you." He spoke so nonchalantly he even surprised himself, perhaps this would be simpler than he thought. "You weren't supposed to see me." Her eyes widened in disbelief and he cringed, then again maybe this wasn't so easy.

"You were really going to go through with this," She threw her hands out. "This…lie?" She railed wildly. "Letting me think you were dead?" She asked infuriated.

"I did pass out." He corrected her. "You assumed I was dead." He nodded slightly in her direction.

"I put you on that train." She screamed pointing behind her at the tunnel entrance.

"That was a joy to wake up with, covered in Scarlet Carson's and surrounded by explosives." He couldn't resist the amusement in his voice as he remembered that night. It actually made him tremble slightly, remembering his speeding coffin.

"I watched it blow everything in it sky high along with the houses of Parliament." She railed. "There wasn't enough time for you to get off." She shook her head.

"Sure there was." He scoffed as if he were simply telling a story instead of admitting to a million things that would break her heart. "I merely pried open the doors and jumped onto the next empty platform." He said it so offhandedly that she had the wildest urge to hit him…again.

"You don't even care do you?" She cried suddenly her heart falling into the pit of her stomach and that suddenly make his chest tighten.

"Of course I do." He whispered softly but she shook her head.

"Then why didn't you come to me?" She screamed as more tears suddenly fell. "Why didn't you let me know you were alive?" She begged and he had to avert his eyes behind the mask when he felt the first pangs of guilt hit him.

"Evey," He spoke softly. "My main concern through all of this was your well-being, please understand me. This life you now lead, a life I could only have given you, if I were no part of it." He let out a sigh as she turned away from him, folding her arms across her chest.

"How do you know?" She choked it out. "Tell me how you figured that fucked up ending in your head?" She let out a shaking sob and V recoiled, she'd never used language like that before, at least not in front of him. "Do you really believe that bullshit reasoning?" She turned to watch him over her shoulder. "I don't think you do. I think you only wanted to be free of me, no burden left at your feet to bear." His chest tightened, that was well beyond the truth, and if she only knew.

"And how is loving you a burden?" He whispered stepping close to her, his fingers warm through the gloves as he gripped her shoulders gently, wishing he could feel her skin against his own and not through those damn gloves.

"You mean the pretense of loving me." She stepped away from him coldly leaving him to savor the linger of warmth that slowly faded from the tips of his finger. "You have to actually love me for it to be a burden and of course it isn't when you abandon it." She spat and V lowered his head painfully, hating the black leather that kept her from him, he held his palms before him as she continued to rail about something, he wasn't listening. Making fists in the air, the way she'd done the night he'd taken her out into the rain. He came back to her ending comment, lowering his fists slowly. "How come everyone I care about, leaves me?" She stiffened before her shoulders sagged visibly, and V resisted the urge to step forward this time.

"Evey why are you so upset?" He paused raising his head to watch her. "I left you with my confession, not with yours." He reminded her as if it were the key point to the argument. He knew better and so did she. She turned slowly, lips parted so sensuously, causing him to dart his eyes away behind the mask.

"Why are you so upset?" She countered, cornering him considerably. "Because I let you leave me with your confession alone, without one of my own in return?" She tilted her head to watch him, his heart speeding under her scrutiny. Was it true? Was that why he'd run? Had he been fooling himself into thinking that this had all been for her own good instead of because of his own self-loathing and sense of rejection?

His head made a slow decisive nod, and her arms suddenly dropped to her side her eyes and mouth wide, but before he could see the smile that bloomed across her face he turned away, afraid that even through the mask, she'd see his frustration.

"I knew that you could never love me. That I had no life to offer you. So I made a choice to let you search for someone who could offer you everything you deserve, not leave you to cling to a mask in hopes of something that could never be." He let the words bleed out of him as he admitted the truth he hated. "I loved you so much I had to let you go. I love you still." He sighed stoically. "You made me feel alive, you robbed me of my hate and filled me with feelings and hopes. Dreams I never had before you entered my world." He shook his head and the wig swayed against his face elegantly as she came around him her fingers sliding up his forearms, and she could have sworn she felt him flinch. "But how could I show my appreciation of you by dragging you through the danger and pain that consumes my life. How could I possibly ask that of you-"

"That wasn't your choice to make." She shook her head slowly her eyes finding his behind the mask, holding his gaze.

"Considering what you are to me, yes it was." He breathed stiffly.

"No, no." She shook her head backing away, and he almost felt weak when she was no longer touching him. "You hid from me, lied to me, like you were trying to escape me." He rushed towards her.

"Never!" His voice boomed as a palm slid to her cheek where tears were once again falling freely. "The only way I saw for you to be safe and free, your ties to me broken, were if I were dead." He reasoned but she was too angry as she slapped his arm away, turning away before she whirled to face him face him again, seemingly confused, her eyes blazing.

"Then why didn't you just die then?" She spat angrily, hatefully, and he flinched, his chest tight. She sobbed and the heart he hadn't known existed before she'd shown it to him, broke.

"I thought about it." He muttered more to himself than to her and her brows furrowed in disgust. He took a breath to speak but she waved away his words.

"Never mind that, why didn't you just leave me alone, that day in the alley, when I was accosted by those fingermen?" Her eyes innocent and hurt stared up at him. "You should have let them do their worst, rape me, beat me," He closed his eyes against the images she was eliciting, of those things being done to her, it terrified him. "Kill me." He shook his head wildly.

"Evey stop." He pleaded.

"Anything they could have done would have been better than this!" She cried. "Knowing you, being close to you, and you left me with a confession of love that you were too much of a coward to commit to!" She railed and he nodded, agreeing, as long as she stopped. "Commit to the moment you told me. Easier to commit to a momentary confession of affection than a life of love was it?" She screamed.

"Evey please…" His voice was leaving him, with every breath he couldn't take.

"No!" She shook her head defiantly. "No! You deserve this, you deserve it all." He knew that fact very well, but her eyes, filled with the hate in her words, destroyed him inside. "You left me alone, and if I'd died because you weren't here when I needed you, your whole stupid plan would have been for nothing." She pointed out. "Every pain that I felt in my chest whenever I thought of you, you deserve to feel it too. Every moment of not having a reason to live, every instant of realizing my love was dead, and that it died with you. You deserve that." She sneered harshly and as she watched him, noticing that his left palm was unconsciously pressing against his chest where his heart should have been. "You tortured me. You, V." She emphasized that statement. "You are torturing me still." His head jerked slightly towards her at those words. "This," She gestured between them. "This is killing me. The lying. Professing a lie and letting me believe it to be true." She backed away farther. "You never loved me, and I hate you for that lie most of all." She screamed suddenly before turning to run in the direction that he had originally intended to go, and it was a moment of hesitation filled with shock that held him in place watching the distance between them grow before he darted suddenly after her calling her name. She darted around the corner, her heels propelling her as fast as they could go, but it was inevitable that V would catch up to her, his stride was longer and truth be told, he wanted to catch her much more than she wanted to run.

"Evey!" He hissed her name as he glided behind her around a turn, one arm sliding around her waist effortlessly, lifting her off the ground as her feet kicked wildly in the air. "Stop!" He demanded twisting her in his arms as he turned to slam her much harder than he had intended against the wall of the tunnel. She still fought him, her hands a flurry of excitement as she tried to free herself, but his hands pressed against her shoulders, holding her still, then his tall lean form pressed suddenly forward halting her cries as it constricted the amount of air she could take in. It took greater effort to sob as she shook her head painfully.

"Get off of me, I hate you ." She spat breathily. "I hate you, god I hate you!" She gasped the words trying to swallow air in some instances instead. "You left me." She turned her face away and sobbed. "You just left me alone." Her body collapsed but the pressure of his body held her in place. "You didn't even care what happened to me." She cried her palms suddenly covering her eyes.

"Evey stop," He hushed gently taking her hands away before cupping her face with his own. "It's all right." He whispered, his thumb slowly caressing her wetted cheeks. "I won't ever let anything happen to you." He vowed passionately. "Ever." He shook his head curtly to emphasize his point. "All I have done since last November, is watch over you, guard you from the shadows." He whispered softly. "I gave my life for yours, my freedom, my home, my heart and my soul." He dipped the mask until his forehead was below her eyes, making her unable to see the masks ever smiling expression as if it would give her some hint to his meaning. Her eyes widened in sudden realization.

"Oh god!" She gasped and out of worry his head pulled up so that his eyes could watch her. "The Shadow Gallery was your home." Her eyes darted from side to side. "You've had no place to live." He brows furrowed in worry as her hands mirrored his against the mask. "Where have you stayed?" She fretted her eyes suddenly falling within the holes of the eyes.

"Oh here and there." He nodded from side to side. "Anywhere close to you." He acknowledged and she let his words sink in.

"Near the Brixton Manor?" She questioned in confusion, waiting until he gave her a silent nod before the thoughts began to swim in her head. "Then you've seen me, you've been everywhere that I've been." She accused, and he nodded again.

"I've watched you closer than you know." He murmured and her face suddenly flushed when she remembered moments when she'd felt eyes upon her, watching her in some of her more intimate moments.

"And you never once thought of coming to me?" She asked ridiculously.

"I thought about it." He whispered regrettably. "I wrestled with myself a few times, between what I wanted and what I thought was best." He murmured, his thoughts conflicted.

"And what did you want?" She whispered huskily making things low in his body tighten suddenly.

"I wanted…" He whispered, blinking slowly as his eyes caressed her face. "To merely have you near me, if only once more." He dipped the mask slightly stepping away, letting their touch break finally.

"You're a terrible liar." She smirked crossing her arms rigidly as his head jerked up to watcher her. "Did you know that?"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean." He questioned his voice filled with charming confusion.

"Quit it!" She railed. "Just quit it! You already said that you loved me, I already know!" She threw her arms out wide. "There's no reason to pretend anymore." She shook her head. "Don't you see? I'm here, flesh and blood, before you." She indicated herself. "There is no more evading questions or answers V. You owe me an explanation." She sighed her hands falling at her sides.

"Evey…" He sighed, fatigue in his voice or some strange relief.

"Not for why you did this." She shook her head softly. "For why I found you tonight." He blinked suddenly, not exactly what he had expected. "I know better than most, that you don't just let people find you, or catch you." She smiled knowingly. "I know better than to think I finally got the best of you. No coincidences remember?" She grinned at him. "You let me to find you." She whispered. "You may not even realize it, but you did." She pointed out and after a long pause he straightened further.

"There are many things that need to be discussed, I understand that." He nodded before the mask tilted slightly over a shoulder for a moment, listening. "But now is not the time." He stated firmly as he came around to face her, the wig swaying slightly.

"You're killing again aren't you?" She asked with sudden wide eyes and when there was no reply, she had her answer. "Why?" She gasped.

"For you." He spoke with a curt nod.

"Me?" Her mind flew. "But V," She began to protest.

"There are people, who still think they can take hold of this country, and place it under control with fear Evey." V explained carefully. "People who don't like the change you and Detective Finch are bringing." His voice grew colder suddenly. "People who would do you harm." There was nothing but cold hard anger in his words.

"Why?" She breathed wildly.

"Because you threaten that control Evey. With the power you have." He motioned elegantly with a gloved hand.

"But I don't have anything." She defended.

"Wrong." He corrected her. "You are free, as they are not, you believe in the people, you believe in what this country could be." He affirmed passionately.

"That's only because of you." She insisted.

"I understand how you may see it that way, but it has always been inside of you Evey." He explained. "Even before we met. You've always had it, I merely showed it to you." His voice held that smooth lulling quality that she loved and suddenly everything was too much, inciting her to press a palm to her forehead suddenly.

"I can't think." She whispered painfully.

"I promise I will explain everything to you." He assured her stepping close.

"Promise?" She raised her face to his suddenly, doubt and suspicion, slightly mocking him.

"Please Evey…trust me." He begged as a gloved hand came to cup her jaw.

"All right." She nodded slowly and his hand fell away.

"Wait for me here, if I'm gone longer than an hour then I'll return to the Shadow Gallery instead when it has been taken care of." He requested, turning to leave but her voice rang out.

"You're coming back this time right?" She asked, and peering over his shoulder he noticed her raised brow of skepticism.

"Yes, I'm coming back this time." He nodded softly and she stepped forward.

"Then I'll wait here. Please come back." She begged, her voice causing his chest to feel suddenly too tight.

"I will." He promised, taking slow confident steps back in his earlier intended direction. Evey watched, her heart pounding, mouth wide in awe as his shape grew farther and farther away, until he turned to disappear down the tunnels. Evey pursed her lips in defiance as suddenly the steps he'd taken only moments before became her own. She wasn't letting him get away this time.

The way was all too familiar, he noted, half way and already it washed over him as if it had all occurred yesterday. The commotion as ten men scrambled for ammo while he'd easily sliced his way through each of them, the moment when his breast plate had fallen to the concrete with a thunderous clang, the prelude to what he had thought to be his last moments on this earth. Then there had been her arms, taking him to her when he'd collapsed before her, her eyes filled his world and everything he knew. The moment she'd touched him, he no longer wished to move, if this was how it was going to end then he would wholly accept it, for the peace that he found at her hands. Every time he thought of that night, and that moment, he couldn't imagine a moment where she could have ever been less than perfect. Except only moments before when he'd heard a noise behind him, alerting him to her presence. He ducked into a indention in the tunnel wall nearby another platform waiting silently, watching as slowly she emerged from the shadows, her heels held on the tips of two fingers while she crept softly across the expanse of the platform. She had no time to react when his arm came out to grasp her waist as he had done before, a palm over her mouth squelching her cry of surprise as he pulled her to him, before turning her in his arms.

"Woman, do you not listen?" He growled angrily lowing his hand, an arm still around her waist. "I told you to wait-" He spat sternly.

"I heard you." She whispered tenderly.

"Then leave!" He demanded harshly an arm holding her back against the wall.

"No, I'm not letting you disappear again." She pleaded gripping his forearms tightly, shaking her head wildly so that her curls flew in a million different directions.

"I'm not, now will you please go?" He pleaded with desperation and worry.

"No!" She refused.

"Yes!" He hissed firmly, holding her hard against his chest suddenly.

"No!" She cried into his chest, but he firmly took her head between his palms, making her look at him and whispered.

"E-" He began but she cut him off.

"V!" She exclaimed finishing her name as she whispered his harshly, pleading, begging.

"I can't place you in danger. If you get hurt, I'll never forgive myself." He whispered desperately, the lips of the mask a mere inch from hers. "Don't you understand that?" He begged as pain raw and real finally showed in his voice tearing her apart inside.

"The last time I begged you not to leave me, I lost you." She cried. "I can't watch you die again." Her heart constricted painfully before she began to sob silently breaking him and the tears dripping down her cheeks were too much to withstand. He kissed her, pressed his lips hard against the inside of the mask, until he was bruising her mouth with the metal, and her hands inched their way up to slide beneath the wig, pressing him even closer. She was pinned between the solid mass of sinewy muscle flexing within the interior of the hot-blooded man before her and the cold unforgiving wall at her back, her small frame compressed until she almost melted to him, feeling every inch of his body, strength and fierce need consuming her. She could feel the heat of his thighs through his breeches against her bare legs where her skirt clung to her curves, the gloved fingers traced the edge rubbing the fabric between his fingers before bringing the palm back to cup her cheek, resisting the urge with great effort to let himself indulge in a constant fantasy. He pulled away, knowing that if he didn't stop now then he never would, leaving every inch of her branded and unsatisfied, his eyes falling upon her with desirous longing. He inhaled, slowing his breathing, his heart, god he wanted her, but not now, not like this. Gathering his control he stepped farther away and sent her a brief nod before he slipped into the shadows and was gone, his footsteps the only clue as to his direction, the knowledge that she'd stay behind this time, his only solace. He needed her safe, needed her well-being assured, to even breath without worrying over her, none the less fight.

She waited, moments later, exhaling the breath she hadn't realized that she'd been holding, as she listened, wishing she could still hear him breathing before her as if he'd never left, only hidden himself against a wall. It reminded her all too well of the time he'd left her staring after him, as his figure retreated from her, his cloak billowing wildly in his wake. She blinked back tears and gulped her composure back in place, retracing her steps back down the darkened tunnel, barely making out the turns. She'd wait for him back at the shadow gallery as she had promised, where she could be surrounded by his things, she decided. But it was only what seemed like hours later that she realized that she'd gotten herself lost when she met a dead end. She must have missed a turn, or taken one too early, had she gone too far? Was it the third turn and then the next left? Or was it right? She gripped her head in frustration. "Damn!" She screamed slapping the wall loudly. "Bullocks!" She breathed heavily, the reverberating echo of her heels against the concrete as she paced in circles trying to frantically remember, then she smelled it, smoke, cigar smoke. She whirled and the silhouette of two men stood between her and the only way in or out.

"'Ello darlin'…" The one who spoke stepped forward slowly. "Miss us?" She saw the bright glow of a smoking cherry and she screamed for V before a hand flew out to knock her hard against the wall. "Fancy a tumble?" The echo of their laughter faded with the rest of the world, and her last thought was of the face of Guy Fawkes.


	2. A Sacrifice for a Dream

His body ached terribly as he ran. Every muscle, every bone, cried out for silence to loosen his mind from the pressure of moments in the past half hour when he'd taken blows from assailants at his back, a bullet had grazed his shoulder, making the limb feel heavy and stiff. Even swinging of its own accord at his side, it resisted movement unless forced. The tunnel had been too perfect for an attack on twenty men, not allowing him to fully take accountability of his surroundings. He slowed his pace when his mind began to swim in calmer waters.

_Evey. _

She was the only thing on his mind as he made his way through the last twists and turns of tunnels. In his head he was replaying that kiss, their kiss; he could almost taste her, feel her fingers massaging his scalp through the wig, feel the flutter of her lashes almost, and smell the sweet scent of her still on his clothes from where he'd held her. His heart raced in anticipation, he was in a hurry to be back to her, near her again, where she could make everything right in her arms. He'd spent a year without that, he hadn't even realized how badly he'd missed her until she was before him, reaching out to things inside of him that were long dead and buried for very good reasons. It hurt to feel, to love, to lose. But he had done them all, for her. He breathed in relief when he reached the platform where he'd left her, the turn. He wondered if she would leap from where she'd been waiting in Shadow Gallery and into his arms, worriedly, surprising his sore frame with soft touches and a tender gaze the way she'd done with worry before when he'd stumbled into her arms, bleeding and weak, dying, or so he'd thought.

He'd just pushed the image from his mind when his breath halted, finding the platform empty. Whirling around he searched for any trace of her, a direction, a hint of explanation for why she had not waited for him as she had promised. The thought occurred to him suddenly that perhaps she'd thought better of staying out where anyone else could have stumbled upon her in the open, and returned to the Shadow Gallery instead. He turned down the opposite tunnel when her scream, a blood-curdling, heart-wrenching scream, froze him in place, fear wrenching him. He swore he'd heard his name screamed, fear filled, making his head jerk in its direction violently as he listened to the echo of laughter follow, close enough that he could detect the lack of distance between them. His eyes narrowed behind the mask, crossing his arms to unsheathe two knives as he darted down the alcove that her scream had come from. Fear had never accompanied rage, until he'd met Evey; nothing scared him anymore, nothing except the thought of never seeing her again. In the midst of his façade throughout the past months he'd glimpsed her, briefly caught her public appearances, when she'd stood bold and proud beside Detective Finch, as they hoped to rebuild the country together. He'd never had the strength to resist being near her.

Every turn he took brought him closer to the sound of loud, obnoxious laughter, until the scent of smoke caught him, drawing him closer until their volume was pinpointed. They were heading his way as he flattened himself against a wall, noting Evey's limp form slung unceremoniously over one shoulder, filling him with rage.

"She got some pretty little legs on 'er, don't she?" The smaller sniveling man pointed out, tracing a finger down the back of an exposed thigh, before his fingers slid upward as he kept pace with his counterpart when he turned down a tunnel leading out of the tunnels to a deserted lot. "I'll bet she looks good on 'er knees." He chuckled as did the taller man as he sucked on the cigar between his fingers. V had to press himself harder into the wall to keep from a thoughtless outburst as he waited for them to exit another opening to the tunnels before following them, close enough to see and hear but not enough to be seen himself. "An what 'ave we got 'ere?" There was a sadistic grin to the man's voice. "Check out the ass on this one." He chortled gleefully as he reached up to pull the skirt over her back until the skimpy black underwear became visible. V sucked in a breath as they crossed the tracks that divided a deserted street and pushed through a set of old iron gates where on the other side a narrow dirt path lead to a gravel driveway to an old house back in the trees. The image of her scantily clad rear high in the air as she dangled helplessly over the oafs shoulder enraged him beyond reason. V sighed, helplessly, nothing he hadn't seen before he told himself. But damn, why was every male in her general vicinity in danger of their lusts for her, even himself he acknowledged with a ridiculous sigh. The man's fingers were too close to touching her in places where no other mans hands should ever be, V thought as he gripped the hilt of a knife with such desperation that he thought the metal would bend in his palm, until the larger man slapped the shorter one's hand away to V's relief.

"Now, now," The larger man beseeched. "Don't be spoiling our little prize before we've 'ad a chance to warm her up to us a little." He nodded encouragingly. "Think of all the fun we're going to 'ave with this hellcat." He smirked and the smaller man laughed a little disappointed. The front door was slightly ajar inviting the smaller man to push it inward allowing the man holding Evey to enter first before he followed slamming it behind him. It didn't close all the way, but instead retracted open an inch, V noticed furrowing his forehead with suspicion.

"They've set a trap with bait they know I cannot resist." He murmured angrily, weaving his way through the shadows beside the house until he found it, an open window. It was too easy. The secretive remains of Creedy's men had known of V's survival since he'd chanced upon them shortly after the destruction of the houses of parliament, how Evey had remained oblivious, he wondered as he pulled his weight through the window, crouching down on the inside as he listened. Their footsteps were loud throughout the halls, growing as they neared the room he had entered. The set of French doors flew open and V darted between a large chestnut bureau and the slight ajar door, which fully hid his form from view as the two men from before entered. The lights came on revealing Evey, still being carried over the larger mans shoulder.

"D'ya see Mourey's face when 'e saw 'er?" The smaller man chortled gleefully when they stopped just inside the doorway. "About pissed 'emself 'e did." He chuckled turning in V's direction slowly. Darting out behind them V struck out almost undetected, slicing the smaller mans jugular leaving the look of shock frozen on his features before a second knife was driven into the taller mans lower spine, jerking the blade until he felt the hard grid of bone. They were both dead before Evey slid from the taller man's collapsing form and into V's awaiting arms, as the thud of their bodies hitting the floor gave the only evidence to their death. His eyes held her face calmly for a moment, his gaze tenderly caressing her lax features during his brief moment of silent reunion when her body was once again in his arms. A voice behind him made the relief evaporate.

"Knew you'd come out of 'iding if that little doxy went up an' missing." There was a satisfied grin in the man's voice as V bent, sliding Evey's limp form into a nearby settee gently. "Now stand up and turn around slowly." He demanded and V did so, with the pretense of compliance, before whirling to face the man, unsheathing a knife to slice it outward at the hand holding a gun. The man yelped in surprise loudly, alerting several other men to the commotion before falling back to the ground, sliding backward on the wooden floor from the momentum to land sprawled in an undignified manner in the middle of a large ballroom floor. Men filed in from several entryways some wielded six inch blades and small firearms. V smiled vindictively behind the mask, more excitement to fill his night.

Evey came to slowly, her jaw pounding, swollen and bruised, the crash of falling objects and searing sharp clang of metal as blade met blade drew her attention to peer through the open French doors, to an adjoining room, where V stood surrounded by several men, disarming them in turn with aberrant speed and grace.

She pushed herself up quickly, flying from the couch that she had been set upon, before rushing towards the door, watching as one of the men took a slice across his chest, before crumpling to the ground. A knife lashed out catching V across his already bleeding arm, causing V's arm to fly out catching the man across his face before scrambling back up from the floor. Evey's eyes followed him where he ran through a set of doors beneath an overhead balcony that overlooked what seemed like a rather large ballroom, gripping the frame of her own doorway for support as V turned to engage the only man remaining as he ran to rip a sword that had been hung on the wall from it's hinge, V in turn reached for a similar rapier that had been displayed atop the mantle of a large stone hearth, much like the one that Evey had seen V amused himself with in the shadow gallery. His bold strokes with the blade as he blocked a blow from his single opponent held her wide eyed in fear and fascination, just as he had done the night she'd found him pretending to fight the suit of armor in the Shadow Gallery. A small smile played on her lips as he gracefully danced between lunges from his opponent, his comments further irritating the man at the end of the blade.

"Dear chap, I do say you're a bit rusty." He mocked inciting the man's rage, followed by a downward stroke which V blocked with ease. She suppressed a grin, before looking away, and that distraction proved helpful to keep her eyes averted from the duel, her mind slipping back into a memory. A thick click unlike that of a blade turned her attentions back to the balcony overlooking the ballroom, where the man who had fled earlier had the sights of a cocked pistol aimed and zeroed, and as her eyes followed his line of sight, to V's back. Her world stopped, frozen as she turned to look between the two, her hair flying against her cheeks. No second thoughts. She bolted towards the two men fighting, screaming as she ran.

"V!" Her scream was deafening, fear ridden and tear filled, and in his shock, filling him with worry he slashed outward finishing the man before him as if it could have been done at any moment during their duel, and there was a hard tug as the blade slid from between the mans ribcage. _Evey_. A blast went off, and V turned in time for the splatter of warm liquid to land in tiny droplets through the holes of the mask and onto his skin, a blur of movement the only warning before Evey slammed into him, much harder than he'd expected her to. He held her tight, gathering her to him in relief as over her shoulder he eyed the man on the balcony where his position was still clearly aimed at Evey's back. Rage propelled him, his reflexes faster than even he believed, unsheathing a knife and aiming before split seconds later the man toppled forward from the balcony, crashing to the floor, dead. His gaze then turned to the huddled form in his arms, a wild tangled mess of curls against his chest. "I must thank you for your warning." He held her much more closely, realizing how blessed he was for her protection. "Otherwise that coward would have succeeded with his attempt to spinelessly commit murder."

There was silence, other than his sharp breathing. _His_ breathing, he noticed.

"Evey, are you all right?" He spoke calmly with a soft smile laced in his voice, where his lips tilted upward beneath the mask, noticing how she clung violently tight to him, her face hidden in the curve of his chest, her fingers like claws where they gripped the cloth at his sides. "Evey?" He waited and when she didn't answer he pulled her away slowly, worry and perplexity filling him. "Eve-" Everything stopped when without his support she collapsed to her knees, her grip all but evaporated and her head lolled backwards limply showing her eyes closed and her face drained of color. Fear began its first gnawing sensation at the pit of his stomach when he was forced to lay her down on the stone of the floor, revealing a stain of blood blooming across her chest. Suddenly pain more piercing than anything he'd ever known, hit him full on, ripping the insides of his chest apart, and every breath he took tore at him. "NO!" He screamed it, screamed long and hard for the first time since he could remember, no soft spoken words, no gentle calmness, just hate, and rage, and pain.

He collapsed by her side, to his knees. "Evey!" He cried out, choked on her name. "Evey!" He'd always been a man in control, aware of everything surrounding him, and he prided himself on his ability to change it, mold it, to what would aid him best.

At the moment, raw, open, emotions were all he knew. There was no calm; he abandoned his control in panic, fear, and pain. Abandoned his defenses, traded them for tears, feeling them fall for the first time in years other than when he'd done so the day she had deserted him, trailing down his cheeks to mix with what he now tasted and knew, to be her blood mixing with the salty liquid on his lips. "Evey," He cried folding his body in half over her, as his solid frame shook. "Stay with me." He breathed barely audible; his breath fell past the barrier of the mask, and against her cheek, one gloved hand cradling her limp skull in his palm the other brushing its knuckles against the softness of her jaw. "God, please don't take her from me." He fisted the palm near her jaw in pleading anger and fear. Begging whatever mystic power held her life, wallowing in the depths of despair, as he beseeched the very air itself not to take her breath. "Take my life, take my vengeance, my hatred, and take the very future I've spent my life for."

She blinked, sucking in a wheezing breath her eyes focused slowly on the blurred image of black that was making up her world before sliding to the line of his hunched form, where it was crooked, and painfully bent close to her as he kneeled by her side. She heard him whisper softly as something warm and wet dripped onto her cheek.

"Take my world and send it crashing down around me." She felt the cold metal of the mask against her ear, felt how weak he'd become as he trembled, holding her as if she were a fragile doll in his arms. "But don't take her from me." She let her eyes roam over the lines of his body, in shock, frozen in awe as her heart beat suddenly faster. "There is nothing for me, no life in a world without her." She watched the words shake from the parted lips of the mask before she gathered the strength to raise a hand to rest atop his bent elbow.

"V." She whispered it gently but his reaction was as if she'd shot that simplistic syllable from a cannon, jerking back in raw terrifying hope when he was suddenly blessed with her russet gaze resting softly upon him once more, her fingers rose to trace a brow of the mask, and down across a pale rosy cheek in deliberate slowness.

"Oh Evey." He shuddered out her name pulling her up into his chest and tears welled in her eyes as a sob choked out of her. He cradled her, rocking slowly, his arm slid, bracing her tighter.

"I don't want to die here." She whispered fearfully and sudden anger, rage a million times hotter than he'd ever known filled him. Steeling his heart, he murmured the only words he could coherently form into a sentence.

"An angel, wings bent and broken, shall never recede beneath the earth, as she is meant to ascend to the heavens." Another tear slipped free as she covered her gaze with a shaking palm to sob. "Evey?" He shifted her in his arms.

"Don't talk in riddles or poems now." She shook her head and guilt filled him. "I love you." She murmured raising her head slowly away from a shaking hand, her palms reaching to pull his mask down until her lips brushed the painted metal, he breathed wanting to extend the moment but the realization of her condition startled him.

"And I you." He leaned to press the mask to her lips once more but her eyes halted his movements. "Evey?" Her eyes were darting across his chest suddenly, a tiny palm searching his chest.

"Are you hurt? Did he get you? Was I too late?" Any trace of happiness vanished from the weakened worry in her voice. She'd jumped in front of the man's line of sight, ruined his shot, and taken the bullet for V, attempting to trade her life for his.

"No, I'm afraid not." He stated coolly but she had no time to question him. A new plateau of guilt enrapturing him as he suddenly drew himself together, the broken pieces of himself sliding back in place, muscles flexed as he lifted her in his arms, and she clung to him once again, hiding her face in the curve of his neck, her arms losing the strength they needed to continue their comforting presence around his neck. She blinked rapidly over his shoulder, until cool night air washed over her skin, eliciting a gasp from her slightly parted lips, her eyes suddenly heavier than she'd ever felt them to be before. At the last moment before her lids gave way to the darkness that was calling her, she could have sworn she felt lips touch hers, not of metal but real, soft warm and alive, pressing unto her mouth the softest kiss before there was nothing but a whisper.

"Evey…"

Evey slipped, falling forever, into the proverbial rabbit hole, as moments flashed behind her unconscious lids. Dreaming never seemed to have quite the hold on her as it once did. As a child, nonsense and riddles, unending labyrinths of towering shadows filled her hazy mind, nothing ever so calm and familiar as when she was alone, faceless men and women speaking words she'd never understand, not in the mind state that enveloped her at that stage in her life. She hadn't the time for dreaming, ever swiftly moving to escape the fear that often plagued her waking hours, dreams ceased at the tender age of eight. Soon after sleep became a moments passing between when her lids descended and rose again to spy that a new dawn had come upon her, until she had met _him_. This dream was familiar, reoccurring for the second time since she'd known him.

She was alone; her fingers trailing the artifacts that defined the character of the Shadow Gallery, finding a smile had crept inside of her unintentionally. Everything was so still, lifeless and silent; it was strange to not hear some melody echoing from the old jukebox, filling the walls with a sense movement, and graceful flow. Unfortunately, that unnatural quality is what allowed her to detach the moment with the knowledge that this was only a dream, strange and almost new to her considering how long it had been, and yet it seemed so real, just as it had before. The intricate detail etching the wings of butterfly's, cased in glass on the wall behind the jukebox was so vibrant, how her subconscious could recall such things, she wondered. At first it was a tickle of cool air against her bare neck, making her duck her head back against the sensation as her skin prickled, and then it was a voice, so soft, seeming to come from everywhere and yet nowhere. It was her name, softly, unnervingly drawn out. The walls were whispering she realized, her name sounding out with contempt suddenly before sordid confessions of murder and torture became explicitly evident.

"_Evey…"_

"_Cut to pieces, beaten bloody, broken and bruised." _

"_Do you know how long it takes to bleed to death? I watched him bleed, his eyes went dead, and it was beautiful." _

Shivers traced her spine with cold fingers, as she twisted and turned in panic, her eyes wide and searching, fear clenching her chest until she thought it might implode. This fear was familiar, it was exactly as it had been before, consuming her, and despite her best efforts to remember it as only an illusion in her mind, and it still frightened her. A light across the room exploded, making Evey jump with a start, and then another one beside it, slowly lights began to burst with the shatter of glass.

"_Evey…"_

"_I left her in the gutter, they never found her body."_

"_They're all the same, worthless, wastes of air."_

There were too many voices, mingling all together, building in her ears, accusations, threats, and terrorizing professions of hate. Even in her dreams the sound was too loud. Half of the Shadow Gallery was shrouded in darkness and it seemed to grow towards her, like great black hands creeping along the wall, distinguishing light after light slowly as it had before.

"_You'll never see daylight again, until you're bones are covered in rotten flesh, and all that's left of you is a little pile of bones and the clothes that you died in."_

"_He'll kill you before it's done. When you see the monster he hides inside."_

"_Evey…"_

"Leave me alone!" Her voice was shrill against her throat but she screamed and collapsed to the floor. "This isn't real!" She screamed fighting the dream, as all at once her name was hissed in unison.

"_Evey…you're going to betray him." _

The lights suddenly shattered all at once and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly before she covered her ears, rocking her body quickly as the shower of glass continued. That's where it had ended before, she waited to wake up, but the silence and blackness continued unmercifully.

"Evey?" Something grabbed her shoulder and she screamed falling backwards, her eyes flying open scrambling away in terror until V's voice registered in the dark. "They can't hurt you." He murmured when finally she blinked and the light was blinding, slowly her eyes rose, finding him standing tall and lean and dark above her, the voices had all but vanished, and the lights were once again brightly blinding and in tact. Slowly a gloved hand extended towards her, with elegance; charmingly he bowed above her, seemingly exerting extreme effort not to alarm her anymore than he already had. "Evey?" His voice was a question, gentle and lulling, drugging her senses with a purpose of sincerity. She couldn't seem to answer, her lips frozen slightly parted. "When the time comes," He spoke slowly, allowing a palm to gently cup her chin as he squatted down to meet her face with the mask. "I will understand." They stayed that way for a long moment, before the mask lowered and her world was filled with black. The touch of metal to her mouth never came as she expected but instead he pulled away and they were in his dressing room. V stalking slowly with purpose to the shattered mirror surrounded by lights brought her attention to the shards broken by his feet when he halted, facing the remains as if studying where each piece had fallen carefully. He settled down into the chair, with a controlled slowness that made Evey blink carefully, before he stilled.

"V?" Evey questioned finding her voice as she pushed to her feet. "What happened here?" Her eyes took in the discarded mask still lying among the ruin of shattered reflections. "Did you," She began slowly. "Did you do this?" Her heart pounded in her chest as the mask slowly turned to face her, his eyes seeming to undress her silently before without an answer he turned away. Her hand began to reach or him. The part of her that remained disconnected and alert to the illusion of the dream remembered when she'd found this room after his death, remembered the breath that had caught in her throat at the sight of the mask and the shattered mirror. She'd wanted to ask him, the question gnawing at the pit of her stomach, and the truth that she would never know the answer, had consumed her for days. Here in her dreams she could know, she could ask, but it ended before her hand could touch him.


	3. Nothing but Waiting Note

**_Sorry I haven't updated, but my motivation thrives on the knowledge that people actually read this. I haven't gotten much feedback, the story I understand, is starting off slow but it picks up, I hope anyone who wishes me to continuewill let me know, I just don't have the time lately to spend on this if it's not catching interest, because you all deserve to read things that actually have some sense of originality to them, that people can immerse themselves into and enjoy. I'm trying, I really am, to bring this story up to par with the rest of the amazing plots that are already present here. I just hope you all understand._**

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Pacing, such a thing in general was unlike him, but as of late the pacing was custom, almost habitual when V thought about it. It was that part of day when hope was at hand, yet restlessness was inevitable, and the pestilence of anxiety blatantly set in. Nothing eased his mind, constantly retracing his steps least of all, but as Evey had done throughout those three weeks of torture at his hands, he persisted in his refusal to let her slip away. He'd done all he could, the good doctor whom he'd consulted had agreed, there was nothing more to do than wait.

When he'd lain her limp body upon the surgical table in Dr. Vasser's home clinic there was so much Blood. Blood was all he could see, smeared everywhere it seemed as Dr. Vasser peeled back the pressure dressing that V had applied with delicacy over Evey's entire left shoulder covering it across the graceful slope upward to her collar.

"She's lucky." V stiffened, there was no luck involved, not at all, he opposed as his leather clad fingers numbly rubbed the expanse of her exposed limb, he was holding her steady so that she rested on her right side, while the entrance wound at her back was tilted upward for the greater vantage of the doctor.

"The wound." V motioned to the swollen puncture. Not really a question.

"No, the wound was an amateurs lucky shot." V stiffed more if it were possible, his fingers digging into Evey's arm firmly. He wished he would stop using that word. Dr. Vasser motioned to her left shoulder blade with a grimace before turning to eye the grinning mask with a stern blue gaze over the rim of his glasses. "She's lucky you were there, she could have nearly bled to death." V resisted the urge to execute the immature action of rolling his eyes. "But the bleeding has stopped. I supposed that's thanks to you." He nodded with a raised brow, V sighed indignantly.

"No, I merely," V paused was a sigh before his next words spilled from him. "Played my part." He mumbled.

"Of course you did." Dr. Vasser replied doubtfully pursing his lips as he reached for the prepared ointment jar beside him, dabbing two gloved fingers into the thick goop before spreading it across the red irritated flesh encircling the lesion. "Hopefully, this will fight an infection." He commented. "And don't think you're getting out of here before I stitch up that arm." He warned shaking a finger sternly at V making him twist his lips into a wry curl of disapproval of being treated like a child caught trying to sneak out of punishment. "Although your good intentions to help may be driven by concern, I'm sure if Ms. Hammond was awake she wouldn't appreciate that much force." The doctor's eyes flickered to V's hand making him take notice of the whitened flesh on her upper arm from where V was bracing her a bit too tightly. He eased his grip before straightening with a huff. "I thought you weren't going to be involving the girl in any of this anymore?" He shot tersely before turning away to decide upon a method to seal the wound safely.

"I'm not." V muttered darkly, suddenly irritated by the man.

"Looks like you got her pretty involved to me." He commented dryly making V straighten even further until his palm was barely resting against her skin, his jaw set firmly as his eyes fell upon the doctor when he bent back over Evey, leaving only the view of a hunched form of a slightly portly fellow with black hair sprinkled with silver.

"I'll quit coming to you if it will ease your mind." The words were blatantly filled with agitation causing the doctor to pause tilting his head back towards the dark figure looming above him.

"And who else are you going to rouse from bed at three in the morning to patch you up after you come crawling or limping from whatever hellish battle you've drug yourself from at that time?" He challenged dubiously, and when no answer came he brought his attention back to Evey. "That's what I thought." The muttered words suddenly made V realize how childish he felt, perhaps the feeling of helplessness with the situation were baiting his short-tempered manners. "The shot went clean through," V's eyes followed the fingers that examined her shoulder blade. "It missed her scapula, but I'm sure the muscle tissue beneath it is damaged, she may have a hard time with this arm for a while, but I'm sure you'll help her with that." The mans brows bounced as he returned to the exit wound at her collar, testing the flesh, feeling with his thumbs for fractures. "When she wakes up," He sighed before turning back to the display of medical supplies, retrieving the sutures. "And believe me, it may be a while with as much blood as she's lost, days even, but when she does, this is going to hurt like hell." Dr. Vasser commented, as V slowly watched his steady hands begin stitching slowly at her back, pulling flesh towards flesh.

"Undoubtedly." V offered despondently, remembering all to well the discomfort that accompanied injuries such as these.

"Don't sound so distraught, if her life is utterly unsalvageable, perhaps she'll go peacefully in her sleep, instead of waging a conscious and pain-filled war against the damage." V completely bypassed the test of words, freezing, suddenly resisting the urge to indulge in the image of throttling the man as he watched as the wound slowly became nothing more than a line of reddened flesh forced back together.

"Dr. Vasser, although at times I value your honest opinion, please refrain from commenting upon this aspect of my life." He lashed out harshly, but the man only let a gasp of laughter shake his frame as he paused in his task at hand.

"Finally after all these years, it's nice to hear something other than foolish determination in your voice, even if it is anger dripping with your obvious affection for the girl." The comment caused V's eyes to narrow in censure at the man, where he sat securing the stitches before reaching for a square white patch of dressing, taping the bandage until it had been pulled taught. Despite his annoyance with the man's insight and V's temperament tonight, underlying beneath his ill mood, V was more so comforted by the relationship built of reliance and discretion. Dr. Vasser was one; if not the only living soul other than Evey who had been aware of his diligent preparation throughout the past year's unfolding. Even Evey wasn't as deeply immersed in the truth of his history as Dr. Vasser. He'd been present through it all, every narrow escape, he'd seen the consequences of V's daring escapades, in fact, he'd been at the brunt of each, witness first hand to every pound of flesh that V had sacrificed for his efforts. It was nothing new to expose the span of mangled melted flesh at his back when wounds needed tending. The scars of Larkhill had the same effect as if it were actually smooth unblemished skin, at first of course, that hadn't been the case. The sharp intake of breath and dissolving expression of shocked horror had been present, but after a three month span when he'd needed medical attention nearly every other night, the previous reactions became nearly nonexistent, until they had vanished completely. He respected the man.

Dr. Vasser's thoughts were similar, and the careful pains he took in seeing to it that his masked patient continued his mission to right all that had been wronged by the authority over his beloved homeland, were his mere attempt at showing his gratitude. When his son had been black-bagged five years prior, his beloved wife beaten and raped by a gang of Fingermen, never being allowed to produce the slightest chance to avenge the love that had been taken from his life, he had begun to wait for his turn to meet them. Then it had come, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, allowing a rescue that had come so unexpectedly with his lacking belief in anything decent being left to breath in a world so corrupted by power, V had made himself known, in the vision of a savior. The charade had been playing so long, and he'd been so much a part of it, that the peace V's words seemed to offer had slung him into the middle of a future he'd hardly expected. He'd come from being faithless, and defeated to personally tending the wounds of a well known terrorist, once he had well publicized his presence, playing the physician to every bruised and bloody malady that hope inspiring vengeance in the flesh could manage to receive.

V thought upon this as he watched the man, preparing for the second half of his ministrations upon Evey, noting how the roles had been so irrevocably reversed over the years. V was not the savior, especially tonight; rather he was being saved through the man's careful attention to Evey's needs. V acknowledged this, a bit regretfully, seeing as how their conversing had being fairing into irritation and tension tonight, knowing he was now the subsidiary partner in their conversations. The doctor's words broke him from his thoughts, further confirming V's theory that the most evidential proof of that fact was how the older man tended to treat him playfully with far less credit in the areas of common sense and tact, knowing, as V himself did, that it could always get the best of him. "Lay her back down, _gently,_ if you will." Dr. Vasser baited with a half amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I do apologize, but it seems I'm not finding this particular moment ripe for the subtle humor you find in making suggestions and requests in the most derisive of fashions, on and off the matter at hand Doctor." V responded curtly making the man chuckle once again as with infinite tenderness V lowered her, feeling the flex of muscle in his arms and stinging pain that he bit through, until she was on her back, her head lolling to her right, eyes closed softly, lashes grazing her cheeks gracefully, her lips were parted, lips that had kissed the cold hardness of V's prison only hours before; lips that had made the mask feel alive like skin, invisible as a barrier for once. V hadn't realized that he'd been staring until the Doctor spoke.

"That mask doesn't hide as much of you as you think it does." The comment caused V to still, not so much stiffen, but his body was paused, even his breathing as the words enveloped him. V suddenly realized, in his own form of a painful grasp of truth, that the one person who had seen past an idea and separated him finally from that image of himself, to reveal a world with hope for a future finally, was lying before him, suffering for seeing so well what he himself could not. "How did you say this happened again, came from a balcony above where you both were standing?" V nodded curtly as painfully he raised his arms to cross his chest slowly.

"I heard her scream from behind me," He swallowed softly pivoting to turn as he made his way slowly around to the other side of Evey, leaving the head of the table where he'd stood by Dr. Vasser's side, until he could gaze down fully upon her. "I was turning to face her when the shot went off." One gloved hand motioned to Evey gracefully. "By the time got all the way around she had already slammed into me, with more force than she should have." V's free hand dropped close enough so that a gloved finger could coil a tiny curl around the leather softly, as the other slid to cross his abdomen. "I don't know why I didn't realize something was wrong then and there." He whispered, and Dr. Vasser paused in his identical order of methods upon the wound below her collar, to examine the man opposite him.

"Don't be too hard on yourself old chap, was her assailant dealt with?" He blinked behind slim silver frames as he waited.

"His fate came swifter than the demons of hell did to take him." V murmured tugging the strand gently until the ringlet sprang back against her cheek. "But it was my fault." He sighed dropping both hands at his sides as they became fists. "The bullet was meant for me, she placed her self between it and I purposefully." The slight widening of the doctor's eyes went unnoticed as V held up a finger. "In fact I do believe that despite her efforts, it still hit its mark." A gloved hand curled up to his side as the other pried open the pocket of fabric at his torso, delving inside for a moment before it reappeared tugging at the breastplate until it ripped free, revealing several dents, and one very noticeable augmentation in it's proof of use, a bullet, compressed by force into the plate nearly two centimeters deep.

"Good Lord!" Doctor Vasser's hushed outburst of surprise wasn't acknowledged by V as he pried the bullet free with his thumb and forefinger to inspect the vile hunk of metal with abhorrence. Evey's blood was dried to it, the shine that could still be seen tinted red. "You said your back was to her when she screamed?" V dipped the mask slightly. "That would make sense then, if they were aiming at your back where your heart would have been placed at the time, the height difference between you two would explain why her injury is so high on her." His gaze flickered to the space of ruined flesh at her collar as he raised a finger to rub between his brows slowly before looking back to V. "Bloody hell, if she hadn't taken so much of the damage, I'm afraid you wouldn't be standing here right now my dear boy." The mask rose to meet the face of the doctor, a face of anguish hidden behind the unflinching smile.

"That would have been a preferred outcome." V replied coldly, as Dr. Vasser sank slowly back to his seat.

"And what good could you have done her then?" He remarked sourly. "How many scars do you have riddling your body from the thousands of times you've risked your own neck to protect hers?" V didn't answer but remained motionless, as the man ranted on passionately from his seat. "She became the symbol you created in her, for this country. After you were pronounced dead, she bared the burden _you_ placed upon her shoulders, the responsibility _you_ instilled within her." A finger was suddenly jabbed in V's direction. "The people listen to her when she speaks your message of inspiration and conviction. They believe when they see her believe, they fight because she fights, and she fights because of you, for you." V's chest was expanding and collapsing harshly as he fought his own breathing. "They welcomed her and commended her assistance in your crimes against the collapsing tyranny over this country when they were laid against her. They saw only a resurrection of you in her, and now they will follow her and her fight for a rebirthing process of this nation, no matter what trials they know that she must lead them through." The doctor's voice lowered a notch as it softened. "The day your paths crossed, everything was set in motion. It wasn't the fire at Larkhill that started this, or your pyrotechnic charades. It wasn't the downward spiral of freedom, or the plague that swept this country; it was the two of you." His chest what heaving as he paused. "You were meant to plot and scheme with a bitter sense of vengeance, and while your determination grew with each year you suffered with torture and the years after that when you lived with distortion and hatred, she had been growing weaker, smaller, suffocating under the fear that you had become liberated from, a hidden vendetta she didn't even know she had." V was suddenly caught off guard with the revelation of how well informed the man really was. "I've read the papers, I know her history, and in fact, I knew her mum and dad very well before they were murdered. I know what the girl has suffered through, what you both have." He leaned back slowly as V continued his refusal to lose his bearing or let his stoic strength falter. "You had to teach her strength, give her hope. She had to show you how to let go and feel something other than vengeance for once." The silver mustache beneath the flared nostrils of a rounded nose twitched. "You needed her to make you feel alive again, she needs you to survive, to live, finish what you started." His brows furrowed as he paused for a moment as if pondering something, his eyes flickering back and forth as if he were reading some invisible words in the air before his gaze stilled and rose to wash over the constantly smiling expression of the mask. V was neither smiling nor frowning behind the safety of the mask, instead there was a perfectly blank expression, hiding in itself the war waging inside the man between caving to such a vocalization of honest perception or continue the belief he'd fed himself for months, her life was in more danger when he was a part of it. "Speaking of making you feel alive." The words were laid out. "I thought she had no knowledge of you surviving the night Parliament was destroyed." V inhaled deeply.

"It seems she's known for quite a while about my continued dealings in this situation." V exhaled slowly. "I do not know how, but being well informed in all matters concerning the well being of this nation, I'm sure that although I managed to keep my movements hidden, some of my more flamboyant actions were noted." The bristles of the mustache twitched again into a smirk.

"You let her see you then?" Dr. Vasser accused smartly, making V pivot to fully face him.

"She was waiting for me." He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. "Her contacts must have gotten wind of my meeting with the handful of leftover conspirators still fighting against the progress her and her associates have made towards the amendment of policies for the new egalitarianism and such." He waved a hand gracefully. "I'm sure they were not aware of my involvement, but she must have figured out that some of the incidents had my name written all over them." He braced his body over the table, locking his elbows as he leaned slightly forward.

"As I said before, you let her see you?" Dr. Vasser repeated.

"I didn't know she was there." V protested crossing one booted ankle over the other casually. "She was rumored to be back in the Shadow Galley every now and then, but I saw no need to avoid the vicinity seeing as how the likeliness that we would meet was slim to none." Dr. Vasser sent him a doubtful stare as one of his several chins dropped to his chest, his blue eyes rolling upward before he laced his fingers together across the expanse of his overly rounded front.

"You let her find you." The older man accused once again to V's dismay, causing him to look away in obvious distress. "I've noticed how much you've missed having her in your life." Dr. Vasser reached for his equipment once again before continuing to sew the wound. After a few moments when V didn't answer he looked up at him as he dabbed at the wound with antibacterial cream. "And I don't constitute your sad excuse for a lurking stalker as having her in your life. You miss the moments when you had her all to your greedy self down there in that dungeon of yours." V resented that comment. His moments with Evey had hardly resembled the experiences common placed in a decrepit sanctuary such as that.

"Am I that transparent?" The words whispered weakly took his attention from closing the wound. "I told her I loved her." He admitted shaking his head slowly, the wig swayed against the mask.

"Do you?" The elderly man queried softly raising a brow before V nodded in an adamant reply. "So why do I get the feeling that you are considering another disappearing act?" The words were barely spoken when lashed out harshly. 

"Because of this!" An arm flew out to swipe across Evey's body, hovering inches above. "Because this is what happens when I involve her." He growled darkly.

"Like I said, she was involved the night you two met." Dr. Vasser reasoned making V push away from the table violently, turning to stalk across the room then back around and away again until he cooled his temper enough to return to Evey's side. When his eyes found Dr. Vasser his face was that of pure awe. "I've never seen you pace before." V dropped the mask slightly.

"I wasn't pacing." He murmured.

"Then you were doing what, measuring the distance back and forth for fun?" He poked fun, making V huff a gust of hot air through the nostrils of the mask, an angry tick in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. "You need to settle your nerves old chap. The girl will be fine if you stay with her." He murmured reaching for another set of bandages. "If you leave her on the doorstep of her friends, they'll have no explanation and she'll be left broken, searching for you everywhere she goes, too distracted by your existence to do what she needs to. Can you really do that to her?" V was back to leaning against Evey's side, this time for support as the mask dropped low.

"No." He murmured softly.

"Well then there's your answer." Dr. Vasser scoffed as he finished cleaning his supplies before putting on a new pair of gloves. "Now get over here and let me take a look at that arm." He dismissed V's agitated grunt as he pulled a chair out beside him. There was hardly a protest other than V's slightly wary glance towards Evey's sleeping form. "She's not going to wake up to spy you half naked so quit being so guarded." In moments V had stripped himself of the tunic and other various pieces of under armor, allowing the mottled flesh, riddle with long white raised scars, until they were naked to the view of the room, offering his upper arm into the doctor's care. The same precautions were taken with the slice as had been with Evey's injury.

"I still have the necessary items to tend to the daily cleansing of her wounds, if you will but give me instructions as to how to nourish her, until she awakens." V swallowed in the middle of Dr. Vasser's stitching. The older man nodded refusing to answer, V knowing at the end of his visit he would receive a bag filled with the items, no instructions as Dr. Vasser knew V to be quite capable to figure everything out himself. Sure enough the time to go came, and V finished adorning his attire once again as Dr. Vasser slipped him a pouch which V tucked into a side halter with a clasp.

"You may witness her temperature decline and rise drastically periodically, but keep her warm and clean. Even though she can't acknowledge your presence subconsciously, she'll know you're there, so do try to speak to her, spend time with her." V nodded, turning to Evey before gently wrapping the Doctors thermal blanket around her chilled form, before he lifted her carefully into his arms, holding her tightly against a broad chest; V let him walk them to the back door. "There really is nothing more that can be done for her to speed her recovery. Even with your many miraculous abilities, there is nothing else you can do but wait." Dr. Vasser acknowledge regretfully. V clutched Evey tighter in his arms as he nodded, with a graceful tilt of his head.

"I understand." He whispered. "Thank you, for everything." The words were filled with so much more than gratitude; Dr. Vasser merely waved him off and that was that.

So wait he'd done, everyday for four days, praying for some improvement that never came. Too tormented by the thought of her condition deteriorating in his absence to leave the grounds in search of a distraction, and too frustrated with the slow crawl time became every second he spent beside her with the seeds of his laborious attentions to her recovery refusing to bear fruit, knowing deep inside of himself that this was all his fault. The only fitting action allowing himself to repeatedly remind himself of that fact, was pacing, and here he was, pacing again, in the heart of the gallery, and had been for the past hour; making a triangular pattern around the sleek black piano centered in the midst of fresco and mosaic tapestries, displays of aesthetic sculptures and plaques of ornate manuscripts sealed behind glass. Steadily, carefully, step for step was unconsciously counted the same amount each way he turned; one hand tucked gingerly in the small of his back allowing as little strain possible on his injured arm while in the other, planted firmly between his thumb and forefinger, was a book, pressed close to the mask as the shadowed gaze swallowed every word hungrily. The text documented past cases like that of Evey's wherein the patients exhibited many of the various symptoms V had witnessed Evey suffer from throughout her unconscious state; barely clinging to life beneath the plush covers of her bed, but he could find no end in sight to the predicament. No solution or reasonable indication as to what else could be done. So waiting, filled with unending studying of the human anatomy and all its frailties along with constant searching, for some interpretation within the pages as to what he could do to bring her back to him. He closed his eyes violently when the image of blood blooming across the tan trench coat invaded his vision. All he had to hold him just beyond the reaches of being driven mad were her words that night when he held her bleeding in his arms.

"I love you." Those were the words that he held onto in the midst of miserable limbo.


End file.
